What to do if Indemnity is paid by the company

I am a resigned employee and today May 3, 2017 I had an appointment with my old company to explain to me the indemnity payment that they will be giving to me.

However, they asked me to fill up and sign a 2-page paper with my details and what was explained to me is that it is a document that will prove that everything is settled between me and the company and that I have no right to go to Shoun to file anything and that I have given them my staff discount card and health card. And without hesitation I signed the document which is written in Arabic because I want to finalize everything and completely finish with my old company.

I asked the C and B personnel if I needed to have a new Civil ID for them to transfer in my salary account the indemnity payment and she said that it’s OK since I already submitted them a copy of my new work permit with my new company.

I was also advised that it will be within maximum 10 days that my indemnity will be transferred to my bank account. I asked for a copy of the document I signed and when I asked one of my relatives to explain it to me, she told me that it is written there that I already received the indemnity and that there is nothing that I can claim from the company. Which is not true yet unless they will transfer it in my bank account.

Please advise what to do legally in case they will not give me my rights for my indemnity within this 10 days as what has been discussed to me.

Name withheld

Answer: Most companies in Kuwait adopt this system of making workers who have resigned sign that paper saying that they have received all their entitlements when they haven’t actually received them. But the good news is that they are subsequently paid these entitlements.

So do not entertain any fears, the company will pay you what is due to you. Indemnity payments are made through the banks so if your old company wants to seek refuge in the fact you signed a paper saying that you have received all your entitlements when indeed you have receive same, they will be exposed by your bank since there won’t be any record of such payments with the bank.

In short, if the company wants to play smart, file a case against them in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour through the Labour Department in your area.